He’d already settled Peanut for the night. She didn’t need to worry about the dog. She needed all the attention on her. “Noelle has him. Mabel let me take him home when I dropped Noelle and her friend there. They’ll take care of him. I gave them instructions on how much food he can have. I know he’s got to go slow. Beth is spending the night. He’s got two dog-loving teens to lavish him with affection. And Dixie’s not going to take your food. I think you made a believer of her. I know you made one of me. Let me take you home, Lila. Let me take care of you. I promise I won’t push you. I’ll drive you home, make sure you get fed, and I’ll sleep on the couch again because you need rest. You had a long, stressful day, and tell me that’s not exactly the time when you dream about it. Tell me you won’t sleep better in a brand-new place knowing someone is watching your back.”

She was still for a moment. “Just for tonight.”

Not if he had a say, but they were doing things her way. “Just for tonight.”

She started to reach for the bags, but he moved in quickly.

“I’ve got it.”

She nodded and went to get her purse. She was quiet as he led her to his SUV, quiet as he drove her past the parking lot where the accident had happened, quiet as he turned onto her street.

She waited as he killed the engine. He was surprised she was still in the car when he got around to her door, but she was staring out the front and he knew she wasn’t seeing the yard or the night. She was somewhere else, and it was his job to bring her back to the present with him.

He opened the passenger-side door and held out his hand. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s get you inside. We’ll feed you, get you a glass of wine or two, another shower, and put you in bed.”

“Okay.”

She was an automaton, going through the motions. She let him take her hand but dropped it the minute her feet hit the ground.

“Maybe we should have eaten at the clinic.” She glanced back down the road that they’d just driven. “I have a microwave in the back.”

“I fixed yours.” He hoped what he told her next didn’t make her mad. “I might know where Bill kept his spare key and I might have gone into your house after we finished up at the scene and I might have fixed your microwave and the stove and that drip in the bathroom sink. I know I shouldn’t have but I had to do something. I couldn’t go home. I needed something to do with my hands.”

“You fixed my microwave?”